Word: premiums
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Some Wall Streeters accused Pickens of "greenmail," the business world's version of blackmail. In a greenmail deal, an investor buys a large enough chunk of a company's stock to pose a takeover threat in the hope that its management will buy the shares at a premium. Pickens denies being a greenmailer, saying that he made a sincere bid to take over Phillips and that all company shareholders will benefit from his actions because the value of their stock will rise. The most venerable greenmail victim of 1984 was Mickey Mouse. Saul Steinberg, a New York City financier, bought...
Some industry experts, however, speculated that Pickens was actually hoping Phillips would recruit a so-called white knight, perhaps Shell Oil or Atlantic Richfield, to take over the Oklahoma company. He would then sell his shares to the acquiring company at a premium. That happened last year when Chevron bought Gulf, after Pickens had made an unwelcome takeover bid. He and his partners made more than $400 million on that deal...
Negative case: The debates are not really debates at all, but joint press conferences in which the candidates spout the same canned speeches that they give on the stump. They put a premium on glibness and showmanship, and greatly penalize a candidate for verbal slips or unpolished gestures, neither of which has much relevance to governing. They prevent rather than promote any real discussion of complex issues, allowing candidates to get away with simplistic and/or distorted presentations that cannot be refuted effectively in the time allowed...
...ironic reason for the slack demand for so-called sweet crude like Britain's Brent light is that its quality is too high. Traditionally, refiners were willing to pay a premium for light, low-sulfur crude, which is used primarily to make gasoline. But refiners in the past year have improved their technology so that they use more of the less expensive, heavy crude. Thus the so-called sour oil is getting a larger share of the market, and its price has been holding firmer. In the past few weeks Saudi Arabia has boosted its exports of heavy crude...
...recoup profits, some California vintners are stepping up production of premium wines that cost at least $7 a bottle. At the same time, they are trying to broaden their market to reach the estimated 130 million U.S. adults who do not drink wine. Last week the winemakers could at least take consolation from the misfortunes of one of their rivals. A plague of rain and clouds afflicted growers in France as they neared harvest time, portending an undistinguished crop...